There’s a saucy red sports car in the driveway of Peter Oundjian’s Connecticut home — his way of celebrating his 10th anniversary at the helm of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.

The 1963 Triumph TR4 convertible with hard top has been lovingly restored (“There’s no rust”) and only did $19,000 damage to the music director’s bank account.

This is not a rare, prestige car but rather “a beautiful car. It’s like a toy,” says Oundjian, whose appointment was announced in 2003 and has been contracted to stay until 2017.

It’s the “cute little car” that he hops into — not bothering to open the doors because they stick — and tootle around Weston, Conn., on his way to a tennis game. As a child growing up in England, with dreams of playing soccer for Chelsea, the TR4 epitomized cool. His other car is a 1973 Maserati, a car renowned for its speed.

Back in Toronto, it is a “Maple Leafs” blue Volvo he uses to scoot from his Annex home to Roy Thomson Hall where his work is done with the TSO.

These cars are apt metaphors for the way Oundjian is programming the 2013/14 season, which opens Wednesday, as well as his plans for the future.

The season begins with sports-car style. The opening week features cellist Alisa Weilerstein, whom Oundjian has known since she was a baby — he was friends with her musician parents — and who is so close to his family that she attended Oundjian’s daughter’s high school play.

“I have performed (solo) with Peter conducting at least 10 times,” says Alisa, 31 and newly married. “I have been playing with him since I was 17. He has incredible ideas and helped me grow as a musician.”

She plays Elgar’s Cello Concerto Sept. 18 and 19 on a program that also includes British composer Benjamin Britten’sVariations and Fugue on a Theme of Purcell.

Britten is another connection in Oundjian’s life — as a child his school choir sang on a Britten recording and he met the composer many times.

The symphony’s opening gala on Saturday features Lang Lang, an Oundjian favourite who spent an unprecedented two week residency two years ago working with Toronto students and young musicians as well as performing with the TSO. Lang Lang will be playing Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 17 and Piano Concerto No. 24.

Violinist Itzhak Perlman, Oundjian’s beloved music teacher, mentor and friend, performs Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto on Sept. 25 and 26. Oundjian was a violinist before he turned to conducting and he was drawn to the stage for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to play along side his teacher.

“Peter did very well,” says Perlman in an interview.

Upon first blush, Oundjian admits it does look a little bit like he’s surrounded himself with his “buddies,” but they are all highly ranked musicians on the international stage.

Most of the season is the reliable Volvo — a Mozart Festival, a New Creations Festival, a screening of romantic film Casablanca along with a live orchestra for Valentine’s Day. The Montreal Symphony visits, and Beethoven, Brahms, Mahler are showcased.

Abba and Simon and Garfunkel evenings add a little whimsy to the season, which continues with the popular Tsoundcheck program, which draws thousands of 15-to-35-year-olds with tickets as low as $14.

Oundjian has just returned from a stint conducting in Houston, where there were three large screens on stage. Closeups of soloists and conductors, multiple shots of the orchestra from all sides — these really livened up the performance, he says.

So he’s on a mission for screens.

“They’re everywhere,” he points out, from smartphones to sporting events. Could the instant replay be part of the concert experience?

“This has to be in our near future. We will become dinosaurs if we don’t do anything,” he asserts.

Cost and complexity seem to be the issues causing delays, he says, but he’s hoping sponsors will step up when they see the importance of them to the entire entertainment experience.

Also on his plate is a return to international touring — something the symphony hasn’t done in more than a decade. The only tour on the TSO roster, through Northern Ontario, was cancelled this year due to lack of funds.

While tours may be costly, they are hugely rewarding in international stature. He points out maestro Valery Gergiev regularly takes the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra travelling.

“If the Russian, Dutch and German orchestras can travel here, why can’t we travel? We’ve got to think big.”

Things you might not know about Peter Oundjian

1. Born in Toronto, moved to England at age 5, his cousin is Monty Python alumnus and comedian Eric Idle.

2. His brother, Haig Oundjian, competed for England in figure skating in the Olympics in 1968 and 1972.

3. He is married to an elementary school teacher, Nadine, and has two children — both of whom attended high school in Toronto.

4. Christopher Plummer is his neighbour in Weston, Conn., and the two have frequent dinner parties.

5. He was a member of the famous Tokyo Quartet, playing violin, until he turned to conducting following a stress injury.

6. He plays tennis often. TSO timpanist David Kent is a frequent partner.

7. He loves many Toronto restaurants but is found most frequently at La Fenice on King St. W.

8. He waterskis both in Connecticut and at his brother’s Muskoka cottage.

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